Mumbai:

Shinde Sena leader Milind Deora spoke to NDTV Monday – over dosa and some chai, a welcome break from a busy election schedule – about next week’s Maharashtra Assembly poll contest against Aaditya Thackeray of the Thackeray Shiv Sena faction, and underlined his ‘local’ credentials to voters. Mr Deora will contest the Worli seat in south Mumbai – a current stronghold of the Thackeray Sena faction and won convincingly by Aaditya Thackeray in 2019.

“For me… I am a south Mumbaikar. I was born here, I live here, I work here. This is my janmbabhoomi and karnabhoomi. No doubt Aaditya Thackeray is an important leader of the opposition and has been MLA for five years. So, in some ways, this is a political challenge.”

“We wanted to mount a serious challenge for this seat… to raise the stakes. We did think about giving the ticket a local leader, but the decision was finally taken that I should contest. It was felt that giving the seat to a local person can swing both ways. What could have happened is that the opposition could say, ‘it is an unknown person’ and there could be conspiracies.”

The fight for Worli, therefore, is set to be a high-profile battle.

In an earlier interview with NDTV Mr Deora had played down any talk of a ‘personal’ contest with Aaditya Thackeray, saying he had known Aaditya Thackeray “since his childhood” and said he would not speak ill of the young politician. He did, however, criticise him and his party’s failure to develop Worli, declaring residents were “tired of speed breaker politics” hampering growth.

Milind Deora is a former Congress leader who left that party in January, weeks before the general election, and joined the Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who led rebel lawmakers into an alliance with the BJP. His candidature for this seat was confirmed late last month, and immediately the headlines were about a Sena vs Sena fight for Worli.

“We have lots of good workers here…” Mr Deora told NDTV when asked about the selection process that led to him getting the Worli ticket, a choice he jokingly called “a left-field decision”.

“This area is different… it is cosmopolitan and has a strong local identity. Many here identify as ‘Worlikars’. Worli also has had local leader serving as MLAs. In that sense, Aaditya was the first ‘outsider’ MLA,” he said, taking a jab at his rival even as he emphasised his local connect.

The Worli seat is in the Mumbai (South) Lok Sabha constituency that is widely seen as the backyard of the Deora family; Murli Deora won this seat four times, including a hat-trick of wins from 1984 to 1991, and his son, Milind Deora, claimed two consecutive wins – in 2004 and 2009.

Yes, since then the Sena has held Mumbai (South).

Back in March the Shinde Sena gave its new recruit, Milind Deora, the responsibility of leading its Lok Sabha election charge in the Mumbai (South) constituency. And he did a credible job; Arvind Sawant’s winning margin dropped from 1.28 lakh votes in 2019 to just about one lakh.

But the margin of Aaditya Thackeray’s win in the 2019 state election – he had a 65 per cent vote share advantage – underlines the magnitude of the task for the Shinde Sena and Milind Deora.

The two will also face-off against Sandeep Deshpande of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena of Raj Thackeray, who is Uddhav Thackeray’s cousin.

Mumbai:

The Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday nominated Rajya Sabha member Milind Deora against ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray’s son and Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee Aaditya Thackeray from Mumbai’s Worli in the upcoming assembly polls.

Mr Deora, a former Congress leader and Union minister of state, joined the Sena before the Lok Sabha polls this year and was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Mr Shinde’s decision to pit Mr Deora against incumbent MLA and former state minister Aaditya Thackeray will make Worli a high-voltage contest.

The Shiv Sena on Sunday announced its candidates for 20 seats.

It also fielded BJP Lok Sabha member Narayan Rane’s son Nilesh Rane from the Kudal constituency. His younger brother and sitting MLA Nitesh Rane has been renominated by the BJP from Kankavali in Sindhudurg district.

The party has picked Member of Legislative Council and former MP Bhawana Gawali from Risod in Washim district, while another MLC, Amshya Padvi, will contest on a Sena ticket from the Akkalkuva constituency in Dhule district.

Former Lok Sabha member Sanjay Nirupam will contest from Dindoshi seat in Mumbai. Sena has also nominated former BJP leader Murji Patel for the Andheri East seat in the state capital.

BJP ex-MP Rajendra Gavit, who joined the Sena in 2019 and won the Palghar Lok Sabha seat then, has been fielded from the Palghar assembly constituency.

Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly will be held on November 20 and votes will be counted on November 23.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

A blockbuster political battle brews in Mumbai – Bollywood’s beating heart – with Aaditya Thackeray, the popular son of Shiv Sena boss Uddhav Thackeray, set to fight charismatic ex Congress MP Milind Deora, who jumped from that party to Eknath Shinde’s breakaway Sena faction in January.

Sources Friday morning said the Shinde Sena had confirmed Mr Deora’s candidature, a day after Mr Thackeray’s party said he would defend his seat.

The two will also face-off against Sandeep Deshpande of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena of Raj Thackeray, who is Uddhav Thackeray’s cousin.

Thackeray junior holds the Worli seat – a Shiv Sena stronghold – that will vote, with the state’s 287 other Assembly constituencies, on November 20.

Except Worli isn’t just a Sena stronghold.

Sena vs Sena In Worli

The posh neighbourhood is in the Mumbai (South) Lok Sabha constituency that is widely seen as the backyard of the Deora family; Murli Deora won this seat four times, including a hat-trick of wins from 1984 to 1991, and his son, Milind Deora, claimed two consecutive wins – in 2004 and 2009.

Yes, since then the Sena has held Mumbai (South).

Arvind Sawant claimed a hat-trick of wins in the April-June federal election. The third was with the Thackeray Sena – as that party, the Congress, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP dominated the Lok Sabha poll in the state – suggesting Aaditya Thackeray has the edge, but nothing is ever certain in politics.

Back in March the Shinde Sena gave its new recruit, Milind Deora, the responsibility of leading its Lok Sabha election charge in the Mumbai (South) constituency.

There was speculation then Mr Deora would be nominated to contest the seat – which seemed the obvious thing to do – but that fizzled out after the party appointed him to the Rajya Sabha.

Mr Deora would, therefore, only oversee the Shinde Sena’s Lok Sabha campaign. And he did a credible job; Arvind Sawant’s winning margin dropped from 1.28 lakh votes in 2019 to just about one lakh.

But the margin of Aaditya Thackeray’s win in the 2019 state election – he had a 65 per cent vote share advantage – underlines the magnitude of the task for the Shinde Sena and Milind Deora.

What will provide a boost is that in the Lok Sabha election Worli voters gave Mr Sawant a very narrow win – he finished less than 7,000 votes ahead of the Shinde Sena’s Yamini Jadhav.

A Third Challenger?

Raj Thackeray could be the dark horse in this election. His MNS opted not to field a candidate from Worli in 2019 to respect Aaditya Thackeray’s electoral debut.

READ | For Aaditya Thackeray, Worli Challenge Likely From Uncle’s Party

But all bets are off now, especially since the reduced margin in the Lok Sabha polls signals an opportunity to gain ground. “In 2017 (in municipal polls), we bagged around 30,000 to 33,000 votes from Worli. We have voters dedicated to MNS here…” Mr Deshpande told news agency PTI.

Aaditya Thackeray, though, is unfazed.

“The People Know…”

The junior Thackeray led a massive rally Thursday as he filed his papers, and told NDTV, “… the people have realised the BJP is a party of hollow promises (and) will stand against Eknath Shinde…”

READ | “People Know BJP, Shinde Looted State”: Aaditya Thackeray To NDTV

Asked about the battle for Worli, he said, “You can see the response of the people. That is their love… The common man and woman on the streets are giving me their blessings.”

What Is Worli Like?

Home to some of India’s wealthiest men and women, the Worli skyline is marked by high-rises and thriving business hubs. But it also contains dilapidated chawls awaiting redevelopment.

Many slum rehabilitation projects have been stalled, and some redeveloped buildings have not provided promised monthly rentals to residents.

The Maharashtra election – one of the two final state polls this year, the other being in Jharkhand – will take place in a single phase on November 20, with results for both states due three days later.

READ | Congress, Uddhav Sena, Sharad Pawar’s Party To Fight 85 Seats Each

The 2019 election was won by the BJP-Sena alliance but that fell apart, spectacularly, after the two failed to agree a power-share deal. Uddhav Thackeray then led the Sena into an alliance with the Congress and the NCP (unlikely partners both) and that angered some of his party leaders.

Two years later Eknath Shinde led a rebellion and overthrew the ruling alliance. He was made the Chief Minister and, in July last year, Ajit Pawar staged a similar revolt within the NCP.

The BJP is allied with the rebel Sena and NCP factions.

With input from agencies

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New Delhi:

The explosive allegations against an on-probation Indian Administrative Services officer are a “serious reputational hazard to the service”, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora said today. 

“The allegations against IAS officer Pooja Khedkar are a serious reputational hazard to the service. Are you in government to serve or due to a sense of entitlement? I urge Maharashtra’s Chief Secretary to conduct a comprehensive and impartial investigation into these allegations without delay,” Mr Deora wrote on X. 

The allegations against #IAS officer Pooja Khedkar are a serious reputational hazard to the service. Are you in government to serve or due to a sense of entitlement?

I urge Maharashtra’s Chief Secretary to conduct a comprehensive & impartial investigation into these allegations…

— Milind Deora | मिलिंद देवरा (@milinddeora) July 11, 2024

“Ensuring justice and preserving public trust in our administrative service is crucial. The UPSC is known for producing high-caliber officers for public service. Those lacking merit and ethics are not fit to hold important public offices,” he added.

A 2023-batch IAS officer, Ms Khedkar faces multiple charges and is under scrutiny for allegedly lying about her OBC status, and visual and mental disabilities to secure perks otherwise not meant for trainee IAS officers. She allegedly used a red beacon – reserved only for VIP government vehicles – and a “Government of Maharashtra” sticker on her private car, an Audi sedan.

Reportedly, she even used Additional Collector Ajay More’s office when he was away, removed office furniture, and even asked for personal letterheads. These facilities are not available to officers during their 24-month probation.

Her father, a retired bureaucrat, had reportedly pushed for her demands to be fulfilled.

After Pune Collector Suhas Divase complained to the Maharashtra Chief Secretary about her, Ms Khedkar was transferred to Washim.

“The 2023 batch IAS officer will serve the remaining period of her probation as Supernumerary Assistant Collector in Washim district,” an official order said.

A file photo of Shiv Sena leader Milind Deora.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha member Milind Deora has claimed that the Congress, which once ushered in economic reforms, currently has a divisive economic agenda which seeks to derail India’s economic growth trajectory.

In an interview to PTI, Mr. Deora said the Congress was a centrist party but it “veered very, very Left” and talks about policies that have failed around the world when the party should be talking about policies which can fuel innovation and investment.

The economic reforms of 1991, the Congress’ policies of the previous 60 or 70 years, facilitated the creation of businessmen and wealth creators, he noted.

Now the Congress party is trying to “name call them, abuse them, criticise them”, the former Union Minister claimed. “It is a symptom of the fact that the Congress is moving away from its own legacy,” he said.

“The Congress had an economic agenda to take India forward. Today, I find the Congress has an economic agenda which is divisive, that seeks to derail India’s economic growth trajectory, which when India is faced with a really interesting and exciting tailwind where much of the world wants to diverse from China and invest in India,” he said.

“We should be taking advantage of that,” he said.

Mr. Deora, a Lok Sabha member from South Mumbai from 2004-2014, and served as a Union minister in the Manmohan Singh government. He quit the grand old party in January this year and joined the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

He said many people in the Congress, including former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, will not subscribe to the party’s current economic view.

‘Congress implemented 1991 reforms’

It is the Congress which implemented the economic reforms in 1991 under the leadership of the then PM P.V. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh, he said. “But the Congress moved away, shied away from those reforms,” the Shiv Sena MP said.

Milind Deora and his father — former Union minister late Murli Doera — share a unique distinction as both served as the Mumbai Congress president.

The Shiv Sena MP also hit out at the Congress for opposing the abrogation of Article 370 (which provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir) and said the nation’s founding fathers, who were also members of the Congress, had introduced it as a temporary provision.

Article 370 was a temporary provision in the Constitution, but the Congress “veered away” from it, he said. The Congress fought against caste politics, but today the party is advocating it, Mr. Deora said, alluding to the opposition party’s assurance of a caste census if it comes to power.